Invisible
by RandomIsMyMind
Summary: Drake gets paired with the most unpopular girl in school for a project, but as he gets to know her, will he learn that popularity isn't everything? Can she get over his ego? Rated to be safe.
1. Paired with WHO!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the people you've never heard of, kies?

A/N: My first DJ story. Love me, K?

* * *

Senior Drake Parker walked into the high school and surveyed the scenery AKA the girls. With a confident nod to a few of them and a sly grin, he reaffirmed to himself that he was the epitome of cool. He was the one all the girls wanted.

"Hey Drake!" called a voice behind him. With a glance back, he found it to be his not-so-cool stepbrother, Josh.

"Oh, Hey, Josh. What's up?"

"Did you hear?" Josh asked, obviously distressed.

Drake stared at him. "Hear…what?"

"Science, big project."

"And what's so bad about that, except for the fact that I won't do it until…ten minutes before class?"

"It's three weeks long AND in partners."

Drake threw his arm around Josh. "Even better! You do the work and I'll…supervise!"

"You don't understand. She's picking our partners and I seriously doubt she's going to let us pair up."

Drake's face fell for a second, then suddenly grew into a grin. "This is great!"

Josh blinked. "How can this be great? No one else is going to do your work."

Drake directed Josh's gaze to the lockers where a tall, thin, beautiful blonde girl wearing tight clothes was pulling books out of her locker. "Nikki McCormick," Drake sighed. "I just know I'm going to get paired with Nikki McCormick."

Josh grinned a bit, then his face contorted into disgust. "But what if you get paired with someone like…Amber Koch?"

Drake grimaced. Amber Koch was a not tall, not thin, not beautiful, brown-haired girl. Her clothes were not tight. She wore jeans that were too big and black T-shirts or button-up shirts. She never seemed to have any friends and had just been written off, as common high school law went, as uncool.

Drake shook his head. "No, no, no. Good things happen to good people."

Josh shrugged. "Well, it's time to get to class and find out." He walked into the science classroom.

Drake took another smirking glance to Nikki and followed Josh.

Soon the tardy bell rang and everyone had filed in.

"I'm sure most of you have heard," the teacher started, "we're having a three-week long partnered project. It's actually pretty basic. You and your partner get together, think of an experiment, formulate a hypothesis, test it, record the results, make a visual aid, and give a report over it in class, three weeks from Monday. Any questions?"

A girl in the front raised her hand and asked, "Is it true that you're picking our partners for us?"

The teacher nodded. "Yes, I chose your partners by randomly drawing names out of a hat. I did this to make sure," she looked towards Drake and Josh, "that the balance of work is, in fact, balanced. Now! Partners and then I'll give you your handouts. First, Josh Nichols and…" Josh winced, a bit frightened by whoever his partner may be. "Nikki McCormick."

Drake turned to Josh and hit him. "I can't believe you!"

"It's not my fault," Josh insisted, grabbing his arm where he had been hit.

"Next, Drake Parker and Amber Koch."

"What!" the two exclaimed together.

Drake sat back in his seat, sulking.

Amber looked back at Drake, then to the front, resting her head on the table in irritation.

As the teacher went on with the partners, Drake leaned over to Josh. "Listen, you have to trade partners with me. I mean, Nikki McCormick," he stressed, obviously expecting Josh to see the direness of the situation.

"Mr. Parker!" the teacher said. "What are you talking about that is so important?"

Drake stood up. "Well, all it really is, Josh and I were wondering if we could trade partners."

The teacher stared at him for a second, and said, "Well, I suppose if you had a really good reason, and all the people wanted to then- No! If I let people switch, eventually everyone would have chosen their own partner, defeating the purpose." She shook her head. "Mr. Parker, see me after class. As for right now, I want everyone to get in their pairs and discuss when and where you'll be meeting, because other than today and the day you give your presentations, you won't be given any class time for it. So get in your pairs. Now."

With that, everyone got up and move to a spot with their partner to discuss. Drake, however, just stared straight forward, a disappointed look on his face.

Amber turned around to face Drake. "Yeah, I know you don't like me any more than I like you, but I'm not going to get a bad grade on this, so get over yourself and come here!"

Drake rolled his eyes, got up, and walked over to Amber. "What do you mean 'you don't like me any more than I like you'?"

She shook her head. "I heard you in the hallway. I know you wanted to be paired with Nikki. I saw your face when Josh mentioned me. I know I'm not cool by your standards, and I know I never will be."

Drake stared at her. "Amber…I…I'm sor-"

"Don't. If you start thinking of me as a human, I'll start feeling bad and have to see you as one."

"Wha-What?"

"Frankly, Drake," she started, "I see you as a self-serving, womanizing, arrogant jerk."

Drake stared again. "I…what?"

She sighed, exasperated with having to explain her opinion. "You just go for the beautiful girls, get what you want out of them, and move on. Now when do you want to meet?"

Drake's mouth was hanging open. "Uh, I don't care. You have anything that clutters up your schedule?"

"I work 3-5 everyday after school, and from 8-3 on Saturdays," she said.

"Oh, you work?" Drake asked, sitting up. "I worked for a little while. Got to be assistant manager of the movie theatre, but I quit. Too much trouble. Where do you work?"

Amber smirked. "Oh, just at Flash's."

Drake's eyes flew open wide and he put his hands on Amber's shoulders, shaking her. "You work at Flash's! The guitar store! Where you have to take a 40-page test over guitar and music knowledge AND get at least a 90 just to be hired as a stock boy! I applied there! I got a 12!"

Amber removed his hands from her shoulders. "I made a 98. I'm a showroom floor specialist."

Drake stared. "I don't…wow."

Amber rolled her eyes. "Anyways, after work, Monday through Thursday, and Saturday, I've got practice for an hour and a half at my house."

"Practice for what?" Drake asked, now completely absorbed in her life.

"My band and I play at The Rage every Friday night, which reminds me, I'm not available Fridays after 10."

"You…have a band."

"Yes, I do."

"With actual steady, paying gigs."

"Yeah, except we're going to have to take a break for a little while, to record our CD," Amber sighed.

"Oh, recording a demo?"

"Well, no, we got a record deal about a month ago."

Drake stared…again. "Your band has a record deal?"

"Yeah," Amber said, looking down. She hated to sound like she was bragging, especially to this guy. "But it's not a major label. It's called Gravitation, a side project of my favorite band-"

"Zero Gravity." Drake finished for her. "They're your favorite band?" Drake put a hand to his chest. "They're my favorite band too. As a matter of fact, I got to play on stage with them the last time they were in town."

"Oh, that was you? You were pretty good, I guess," Amber smirked.

"Pretty good, you guess?" Drake asked, feigning hurt. "I was fantastic, the band members said so themselves. Anyways, I've got band practice the same time you do, so since it's Friday, how about you come over to my house after work, and we'll get started?" Drake suggested.

Amber thought about it for a few moments. "Okay, sure," she replied. After getting directions, she looked at the clock. "Bell's gonna ring soon."

As if on cue, the bell rang. Amber and Drake stood up and started heading for the door. "Can I walk you to your locker?" Drake asked.

Amber gave him a look of subtle disbelief. "And ruin your reputation? Why, Mr. Parker, I am shocked."

Drake smiled a little. "It wouldn't ruin my reputation. I mean, I don't have a-" he paused, realizing how stupid he sounded. "I don't mind."

"Drake," the teacher called. "Did you forget I said 'see me after class'?"

Drake sheepishly looked to Amber. "I'll see you later."

* * *

A/N: Kies, that's Chapter 1, hope you enjoyed it, please review! Leave some comments, criticism, flames for my marshmallows, but above all, come back for some more! 


	2. Oh, the angst

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the people you've never heard of.

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update, I went on a road trip last week! Anyways, thanks for all the great reviews, guys, you make me happy. So read, review, and enjoy!

* * *

Drake opened the front door to hear Josh's voice from the kitchen. "-and Drake got paired with this really uncool girl named Amber." 

"Well, that's good, I think," the voice of Audrey, Drake's mom and Josh's stepmom, replied. "He needs to expand his horizons a little bit."

"No, Mom, you don't understand-" Josh didn't get to finish because Drake came through the kitchen door. "Drake!" Josh exclaimed, turning to his stepbrother. "How were things with Amber?"

"Fantastic!" Drake exclaimed back. "She's really outspoken. She says exactly what's on her mind. She's a got a band too, with actual regular paying gigs and a record deal on a label my favorite band started and it's her favorite band too. And she's really smart. She works at Flash's."

"Flash's?" Josh asked. "Isn't that the guitar store where you have to take a 30-page-"

"40," Drake corrected.

"40-page test and get an 80-"

"90," Drake corrected again.

Josh glared at him for a second. "Just to be hired as a stock boy?"

Drake grinned. "Why, yes, Josh, yes, it is."

"Didn't you apply there?" Josh mused. "What was your score? Like a 30 something?"

"Actually," Drake tried to start.

"No, no," Audrey interrupted. "It had to be higher. A 50-something?"

"Actually," Drake said again, trying to start.

Josh's dad, Drake's stepdad, Walter, shook his head. "No, it had to be a 70, at least."

"Actually," Megan, Drake's little sister, interjected, "I think it was closer to an 8."

"Hey!" Drake exclaimed, point a finger at Megan. "It was a 12!"

"Oh," came the disappointed response from the others.

"Hey, a 12 is still good, it's a really hard test. The employees are lucky to get a 90."

"And what'd Amber make?" asked Josh.

"A 98 but- hey! That's besides the point!" Drake looked to the clock. "She's gonna be here soon. I have to clean up!" He made a motion to leave, but stopped. "Mom, can I go to The Rage tonight? It's a club, I'll be home by midnight or one or something. I really want to see Amber's band."

Audrey thought about it for a minute. "Be home by 1:00, okay?"

Drake nodded with a "Thanks, Mom!" and dashed up to his room.

xxx

"Drake! Amber's here! Hi, I'm Drake's mom, please come in." Audrey said, opening the door more.

Amber smiled. "Thanks, You have a really nice house."

"Thank you," Audrey laughed. "It's really hard keeping the house clean with the kids."

Suddenly Drake appeared at the top of the stairs. He was dressed in a different outfit from school. His clothes were really nice now, and his hair was newly styled. He ran down the stairs to Amber, and she could tell that he had put on cologne as well.

Audrey looked to Drake. "Are you leaving already?"

Drake's eyes got wide. "Uh, no, Mom, what are you talking about?"

Audrey blinked a few times. "I thought you said you were going to The-"

"Uh, that's later, Mom. We have work to do, bye." Drake grabbed Amber's hand and dragged her up the stairs to his room. After they got in there, Drake quickly shut the door.

Amber stared at the room. "Is this all yours?"

Drake turned around, smirking at the expression on her face. "Well, I share it with my stepbrother, Josh, you know, from class?"

"Oh, you're stepbrothers? I should have figured. I wouldn't imagine you actually hanging out with him."

Drake narrowed his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Amber shrugged. "Well, it's no secret that you're from two different cliques. I mean, he's the dorky smart kid with no skills for girls, even though he and his girlfriend are so cute, and you're the slacker playboy. I mean, why else would you two even talk?"

Drake bit his bottom lip. "Let's just get started. What kind of experiment do you want to do?"

"Well, there is one…ah, nevermind," Amber started, but quickly shut up.

"What?" Drake asked, sitting down on the couch.

"No," Amber replied, sitting down on the couch as well.

"Why not?"

"Because you're going to think it's stupid."

Drake stared at her. "Since when have you cared what I, or anyone for that matter, thought?"

Amber looked down. "You'd be surprised. Okay, this sounds dumb, but I like gardening. I mean, I really like gardening."

"Sounds normal, so far."

"Uh, yeah, and lately, I've noticed that the plants outside my rehearsal space have been growing better than before we started rehearsing there, so…"

Drake grinned. "You want to know if music affects plant growth, and if so, what music is best."

Amber blinked. "Uh, yeah, how did-?"

He shrugged. "Great minds think alike."

"That's not very comforting."

"That's not very nice."

"Aw, I'm just kidding. Now," Amber said, standing up and starting to walk around the room, "we have our experiment idea, how do we set it up?"

"Hold up, I'm gonna get some food, then we can talk about the experiment." With that, Drake stood up and left the room.

Amber sighed and looked around the room for something to do. Suddenly her eyes lit up as she spied Drake's autographed guitar. She walked over to it, picked it up and started playing.

A few moments later, the door opened. "Drake, aren't you supposed to-" Josh stopped, realizing that the guitarist was not his stepbrother. "Oh, sorry. Where's Drake?"

"He's getting food. How are things with Nikki?" Amber asked.

Josh's face fell. "She's as dumb as a pile of rocks. Not just any pile of rocks, mind you, oh no. This is the pile of rocks that got rejected from rock school. These are the stupid rocks." Josh smiled when Amber laughed. "I wish Mindy could have been my partner. Oh, that reminds me! I left her downstairs! Have fun!" He shut the door, leaving to return to his girlfriend.

Amber laughed a bit and shook her head, remembering what she was doing. With a quick recap on the chords she was playing, she continued the song. "Invisible, don't exist, not real, but I-"

Suddenly the door opened again, revealing Drake with a small tray of food. "I got some- what are you doing?"

Amber looked up and quickly placed the guitar on its stand. "Uh, nothing?"

"No, seriously," Drake said. "It was good. What was it?"

Amber shook her head and looked down. "Just a song I wrote. Nothing important."

"Can I hear?"

Amber's eyes grew wide. "No, no way. It doesn't even sound that great. I mean, Casey, his guitar part is what really matters."

"Casey?" Drake asked, not recognizing the name from anyone he knew.

"Casey Cooper, the guitarist is my band. He's really, really good."

"I've never heard of him," Drake commented, now wondering if Amber's band even existed.

"He went to my old school, they all do. I came here freshman year, and they all went to Monteblanca High School, fifteen minutes down the road. We've had the band since we were in sixth grade. Me and Nina the Queen-a, and-"

"Nina the Queen-a?" Drake asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, her name's actually Nina LaReina, but LaReina means the queen. So…Nina, Queen-a, it was just…nevermind, it's stupid."

"No, it's cute. Did you come up with that?"

Amber narrowed her eyes at him slightly. What game was he playing? "Yeah, I did. Anyways, she does bass and background vocals, and we have Marcus Villareal on drums, and Casey on lead guitar and background vocals, and I'm lead vocals and rhythm guitar."

Drake smiled. "A boy-girl band? You're far braver than me."

"Yeah, we were worried that sexual tension was going to drive us nuts, but we're fine. Nina and Marcus have been going out since seventh grade."

"And you and Casey?"

Amber laughed. "Casey and I tried dating during our sophomore year, but by then we were like brother and sister, so it was just weird. It was an easy break-up. We both agreed that it wasn't going to work. We'd only been going out a week. We didn't even kiss. He was my first and only boyfriend."

"So you've never been kissed?"

Amber's face flushed, slightly shocked by the brazen question. "I don't see what that has to do with the science experiment."

"Amber," Drake said, "just answer. Have you ever been kissed?"

She looked down. "No. But that's not important. I mean, I'm sure there's lots of people who haven't been kissed by their senior year in high sch-" Amber stopped, realizing that Drake had put his hand on her cheek. Before she ever realized what was happening, Drake's lips and hers met. It was bliss to Amber, exactly the way a kiss should feel. Lithely, she brought her hands up to his neck, playing with his hair. Suddenly, she felt his tongue try to enter her mouth and she drew back, coming back from her dream-like stupor. Realizing what had just happened, she walked over to get her stuff. "I have to leave, I…I just have to leave."

Drake followed her and grabbed her wrist. "You're telling me you're going to ignore what just happened?"

Amber turned and glared dangerously at him, yanking her wrist away. "Nothing happened. We were talking. I decided I had to leave, that's all. Nothing happened."

"I kissed you, Amber. Doesn't that mean anything?"

Oh, the arrogance of this guy! "Oh, yeah, Drake, like a kiss from you is gonna make everything right in the world. It's gonna send me back 4 years and I'm gonna get to start freshman year at Monteblanca, where I would have had friends and school wouldn't have sucked. I've been through misery here. Everyone's got their clique at school, but not me. I don't belong with anyone here. And now some kid wants to break the boundaries and step away from popularity? Bull. I don't belong with anyone here, Drake, especially not you. The sooner you get that through your head, the better. Oh yeah, your kiss meant so much. All you really did is take away something that should have been reserved for someone I really care about."

"You liked it," Drake accused. "You kissed back."

"I was caught up in the moment."

"You can't tell me you didn't feel anything."

"I don't want to feel anything!" Amber snapped. She sighed and shook her head. "I don't want to feel anything. Not from you." With that she walked out of the room.

On her way down the stairs, Amber was seen by Audrey, who was walking out of the kitchen. "Amber, are you staying for dinner? You can if you like."

Amber paused and looked to her. "Oh, no thank you, Mrs. Parker, er…Nichols, er…Drake's Mom, ma'am. I really have to leave. Thank you for the offer though, You have a lovely house." Before Audrey could respond, Amber was out the door and gone.

Mindy and Josh, who were on the couch, looked toward the door as Amber closed it. "What I wouldn't give to know what happened with those two," Josh muttered.

"I'll tell you what happened," Mindy replied. "Drake did something stupid."

"That doesn't count. Drake always does something stupid."

* * *

A/N: That's Chappy 2, hope you liked it! 


	3. Clubs and Car Rides

Okay guys, sorry it took so long, but I was in Colorado and then my internet died, and then I went to church camp. Anyways, Here's chappy 3! Enjoy!

XXXYYYZZZ

Drake walked into the crowded club to hear the pounding rock music coming from the other side. 'That must be Amber's band,' he concluded, using his immense deductive reasoning skills. He made his way along the side, not getting too close to the stage for fear of being seen. As he settled into what he deemed a safe spot, he heard the last little bit of a song. He had to admit, Amber's band was pretty good. He tensed up when he heard her voice introducing the next song. As she strummed the first chords of the song, Drake felt a presence near him.

"That Amber sure is something, huh?" said a boy next to him. He looked about 18 and had black mohawked hair and multiple piercings.

Drake smiled and nodded, looking back to the stage. "Yeah, something." He was more interested in the music, the melody being slow and mysterious.

"You wouldn't have a chance with her. This song and a whole slew of others are about some guy from her school that she likes. Apparently, he doesn't like her back. Stupid kid. I'm telling you, man, she's amazing."

Drake was about to say something, but stopped, hearing Amber's voice again. He immediately clued into the words.

"Every morning I wake up, and say a prayer  
That today's the day you'll notice that I'm even there.  
Every day I feel just like a window pane,  
'Cuz you look right through me and it drives me insane.

"I need to get a grip, get a clue  
Get over how I'm stuck on you.  
I know that I'll never be  
Anything to you because you can't see me."

She held out the last note, grinning at the cheering crowd. As she faded the note away, the drums came in hard, followed by a heavily distorted guitar riff, played very well by, Drake assumed, Casey.

"I'm invisible, don't exist, not real.  
But I still can't help the way I feel.  
Someday you'll see it's not all physical,  
But until then I'm invisible."

The heaviness continued as Amber started the second verse.

"I don't know what I see in you,  
Treating girls the way you do.  
New week, new girl on your arm.  
But you do nothing, so there's no harm.

"You need to get a grip, get a clue  
Realize that I'm stuck on you.  
Think about how it would be  
If you would just try to see me."

She did a quick spin with her guitar, seemingly loving every second on stage, every aspect of performing.

"I'm invisible, don't exist, not real,

But I still can't help the way I feel.  
Someday you'll see it's not all physical  
But until then, I'm invisible."

There was a musical break while Casey played a stunningly good guitar solo, then Amber came back to the mike to sing.

"I'm invisible, don't exist, not real,  
But I still can't help the way I feel.  
Someday you'll see it's not all physical  
But until then…"

She paused, allowing Marcus to play an ending drum solo.

"…I'm invisible."

The club erupted into cheers and claps. Drake, however, just stared. Was that song about him? Earlier, she had accused him of being a womanizer and the boy in the song was the same way. But if she really cared about him, why did she act that way at his house?

Amber sighed on stage, wiping her forehead. "All right, guys, we're gonna take a short break, and then we'll be back to finish the set." She set down her guitar, a glossy cherry red Fender Strat, and jumped off the stage, walking to the bar to get a soda.

'Now,' Drake thought, 'Now's my chance." He slinked over to the bar, making sure not to be seen. He spotted her sitting on a barstool chatting it up with a guy with lime green hair. 'Casey,' Drake recognized from the stage. He took a deep breath and walked up behind her, putting his hands over her eyes.

She jumped slightly. "Whozat? Who's there?"

"Guess," he said, disguising his voice.

"Oh, I hate guessing games…oh, I don't know. Um, I give up, Casey, who is it?"

Casey shrugged. "I don't know," he replied, scratching his green head. "Some kid."

"Hey!" Drake exclaimed, allowing his fake voice to slip. "I'm in the same grade she is!"

"Drake?" Amber asked, removing his hands and turning around to him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see your band. Great job so far. You guys are awesome. We should do a show together sometime."

"We're signed," Casey said. "Try tomorrow's band."

"It's okay, Casey, I know him." Amber interrupted. She turned back to Drake. "Thanks."

"I'm serious! I had no id-" It was then he noticed that her hair was now dark, almost black, purple. "What happened to your hair?"

She raked a hand through it. "It's not permanent. This is the color I want it, but my dad doesn't think it's school appropriate, so I dye it Friday before the show, and wash it out after."

"Doesn't that get expensive?"

"What else do I have to spend money on? The record company is paying for everything, companies give us equipment and clothes to advertise. I've got a car and a house. What more do I need?"

Drake blinked a few times. "College?" he suggested.

She was silent for a few moments. "I'm not going to college, Drake."

"What?"

"The band starts touring in August with Zero Gravity. There's no time for college."

"But what if you fail?" Drake asked.

"Well, then I'll come back and go to college." She paused. "Are you going to college?"

Drake looked down. "Well…no."

Amber smirked. "Exactly. We're signed, so I'm one step ahead of you. Listen, we need to go. Drake, Casey Cooper. Casey, Drake Parker. We go to school together."

Casey looked to Drake. "Hey." He turned back to Amber. "I thought you didn't have any friends from your school."

Amber looked to Drake, frowning, then turned back to Casey. "I don't. Let's go." She grabbed his hand and dragged him away.

Drake watched them walk away, disappearing into the crowd. He let his head fall back and released a deep sigh before sitting on a barstool to watch the rest of their set.

xxx

By midnight, the show was over and Mesmerized, the name of Amber's band, Drake learned, was packing up their equipment. He walked around to the back, where they were loading all the equipment into a van. Spotting Amber, he ran over there. "Hey guys!" he exclaimed, acting as if they should all know him.

A Hispanic-looking girl with a nose piercing and short black hair looked at him strangely, shortly joined by a boy with longish black hair, tied up in a ponytail. 'Marcus and Nina,' he recalled.

Casey, leaning away from the back of the van where he was loading amps, looked to Drake. He rolled his eyes disdainfully and called out, "Amber, your stalker is here."

Amber got out of the driver's side seat and walked around to where Casey was. "What do you mean my sta-" She noticed Drake. "What are you doing here?"

Drake put on a big grin. "I'm here to talk to you!"

"I'm going home now, Drake."

Drake frowned slightly. "I'll give you a ride home!"

"I have a ride home," she replied, pointing her thumb back toward the van.

"Come on, Amber, please. I really want to talk to you."

"Amber!" Nina called. "Just go with him. Make him shut up."

Amber sighed. "Fine. Casey, can you unload my stuff at the shack?" When he nodded, she turned to Drake. "Let's go," she said, coldly.

A few minutes later, they approached a black Honda Civic. "Ride, Sweet Ride," Drake said, trying to ease the silence. She only said "hmph" in reply, which made Drake wonder if this was bad idea. He unlocked the doors and she got in, arms folded. "So…where do you live?"

She looked to him, then turned her head to stare straight ahead again. "Tirramen."

"Oh, I know where that is! I used to date a girl that lived on…" He stopped, realizing that he once again sounded like arrogant, womanizing Drake. He turned on the car, and they were off, heading toward her neighborhood. The first few minutes were in dead silence, except for the faint rock music coming from the CD player.

"All right, you dragged me here to talk, so talk," Amber finally said, breaking the silence.

"Why did you run away?"

She was silent. After a few moments, she replied. "You kissed me. On the first day that we'd ever even talked. That's a little weird."

He scoffed. "No, it isn't. I do it all the time. Meet a girl at the Premiere, make out with her. Heck, I'll even be on a date with another girl and do th- I'm being a jerk again, aren't I?"

"You're quite good at it."

He sighed. "Listen, I'm really sorry. I'm not used to this."

"Used to what?"

"You. I mean, you're a girl. Girls love me. Therefore, you should love me."

"Did you just say 'Therefore'?"

"Yes. But you… you don't even like me."

"Mindy doesn't like you."

"Mindy's not even human. Anyway, you run away, and call me names, and yell at me, which for some reason hurts me. You're completely different than any other girl I've ever met. You're smart, and funny, and you play guitar and you have a band and you work at Flash's and you're opinionated and…you're amazing."

"I noticed pretty isn't on that list," Amber said, looking down.

"I don't care about pretty!" He exclaimed, almost veering off the side of the road. "To tell you the truth, I can't see 'pretty' anymore. The girls I used to think were so gorgeous…when I think about who they are, compared to you, they become hideous. When I look at you…it's all pretty to me."

"Drake, you just learned about me this morning."

"I know, I know! I'm impulsive, I rush into things, but I can't help it. That's who I am. I don't think about things. I just…follow my heart."

She raised an eyebrow. "Judging by your past girlfriends, I'd guess you followed something else."

He shook his head. "I guess I'm trying to say I'm sorry for everything that's happened to you. And I'm sorry if I ever did anything to hurt you."

"Apology accepted."

He smiled. "Good. That makes me happy. Listen, Amber, I really like you. I mean, I'd love it if we could, I don't know, go to a movie sometime."

"So you can go make out with some random girl you meet there?"

"No! I don't want to be that way anymore."

"Here's the deal, Drake. I know you and your kind. You change your attitude and appearance to get a girl to like you. You say exactly what they want to hear to get a girl to like you. I'm sorry, Drake. I'm not falling for it."

"I knew this would come back to haunt me. I'm serious. I want to change."

"I'd love to believe you, Drake. Really, you have no idea how much I would love to believe you. But I can't. Since we're being so honest with each other, let me share something with you. I've had a crush on you since freshman year. I've seen you with every single one of your high school girlfriends. There's a lot of them, Drake."

"Well, yeah, but I'm changing!"

"I can't believe that. All the charades you've gone through for girls, I can't be sure that this isn't one of them. To get you after wanting you for so long, only to lose you after a week? I refuse. I'm sorry. I'm not putting myself through that."

Drake stared straight ahead, not saying a word as he turned onto Tirramen Avenue. "Where to from here?"

"Just drop me off here. I'll walk."

"No, no, I drove you this far, I'm not gonna have you walk now."

She sighed. "Two more blocks. Last house on the left."

They drove for a few more minutes until they reached her house. Drake stared. No wonder she didn't want him to see it. It was a small house, paint peeling, the roof missing some shingles. The grass was getting too tall and in some spots, it was brown, and not growing at all.

She looked down. "Yeah…that's my house. Not near a nice as yours. We're building a house right now and this is all we could afford with what was left. My dad's been out of work for 3 years now. He's a piping designer."

"What about your mom?"

"Well, she was a teacher…"

"What is she now?"

Amber coughed slightly. "Um…ashes."

"What?"

"My mom passed away earlier this year."

Drake stared. "Oh, gosh, Amber. I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"No one at Belleview did. It's no big deal. I…I don't like to talk about it. Anyways, I'll see you Monday."

"We're not gonna get together tomorrow?"

Amber frowned, not wanting to say yes, but knowing that she needed to if she wanted to get a good grade on this assignment. She may not have have had college plans, but her father was quick to stop her music career if she began letting her grades fall. "All right, I get out of band practice around four-thirty, I can be at your house at five?"

Drake nodded, picking up on how hesitant she seemed. "Sounds good. I'll see you then."

She gave him a forced smile and got out of the car. "Thanks for the ride," she said woodenly before closing the door and heading into her house.

He watched her walk away, formulating every plan he could to win her over. He would do whatever it took.

XXXYYYZZZZ

Okay, so that's chapter 3. Hope you enjoyed it!


	4. Nikki, you Bit-icky

Okay. So. I'm well-aware that it has been a number of years since I last updated this story, but I've recently found new inspiration for it. I'm not sure what it was, perhaps it was all the lovely reviews, or perhaps it's my heartache in not seeing Drake and Amber's storyline ever resolve, but I'm making an effort to try and continue this now. If you're a new fan, welcome, if you're an old fan, I apologize from the bottom of my heart. As a note, old fans should generally just go ahead and reread everything, if not just the last little bit of chapter three as I am a completely different person now and I'm planning on taking the story in a bit of a different direction now. ANYWAY. Thanks for finding this/coming back. I love you all so so so much.

Oh, for those who asked, and for any future questions, any song in this fic that does not belong to Drake Bell is from my own personal song catalog. I've always meant to record "Invisible" as it's particularly special to me and was written from personal experience before it became Amber's, but I've just never gotta around to it.

Disclaimer: I only own who you don't know

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Drake had managed to make it home last night just before curfew, but was surprised to discover that no one had even been awake waiting for him. He could have stayed out even later if he wanted to, but what would have been the point? It wasn't as though Amber wanted anything to do with him, and her bandmates seemed to like him even less. Regardless, he ended up staying up late on his computer listening to her band on the internet. If her confession hadn't made it obvious that she'd written about him, the songs definitely did. From angry rock songs to heart-wrenching ballads, Drake was finally starting to get a clear picture of just who Amber was, and though his interest in girls seemed to change with the date, he found himself falling deeper into a web of Amber. How had he managed to spend nearly four years ignoring this girl?

He'd stayed up so late that it was well into the afternoon before he woke up, an alarm blaring loudly in his ears, informing him that it was now four in the afternoon and he should probably get up. Though he tried to curl back up into his bed, something nagged at the back of his head, telling him he needed to get up. As he finally rolled over to check his phone, he was horrified by the number of missed calls and text messages he'd gotten from his band mates, wondering where he was. He'd completely forgotten that he was supposed to have band practice this afternoon and since he'd stayed up so late, he'd managed to heavy sleep through every single attempt to reach him. A dull horror overtook his stomach as he quickly called all his bandmates back, apologizing, begging for forgiveness and attempting to reschedule for that night. Luckily for him, his bandmates accepted, planning to get together at nine.

xxx

After showering, and all that, he went downstairs to find Josh and Nikki sitting together on the couch, discussing their project. As soon as Josh saw him, he jumped up and ran to Drake, clasping his hands together. "Drake! Thank goodness!"

Drake looked to his brother with a curious eye. "What's up? How's the project going?"

His brother rolled his eyes. "Don't ask. It's just awful. Everytime I explain how the Transmogrifier works, she just giggles and asks 'Where's Drake?'"

Drake crossed his arms in interest. "Oh, a transmogrifier? That's sounds pretty complex, how does it work?"

The other boy's eyes lit up. "Oh! Well, it's really simple, you see. I take something ordinary, like a sock, you see, and I put it through the machine. It gets hit with tiny little lasers which break it down and-"

"Hehe, where's Drake?" he interrupted, not really caring what a Transmogrifier was.

"Ooooh you! Look, can you please entertain Nikki while I get ready for my date with Mindy?"

Drake grimaced a bit. "I don't know. I don't know what we'd even talk about."

"Talk about?" Josh gave him an incredulous look. "Since when do you worry about talking to girls? Just go make out with her face or something and keep her busy." With that, the boy disappeared, leaving Drake to Nikki.

He walked over to her with a forced smile, sitting on the chair next to the couch. "Hey Nikki, how's it going?"

"Drake!" she said with a flirty smile. "Just who I wanted to see. I heard you actually wanted to be paired up with me for this assignment." She stuck her lips out in a pout, adding in a baby voice, "Such a shame we're so far apart."

Drake nodded along slowly, hardly able to believe that just yesterday this was the girl he was head over heels for. What had he seen in her? "Yeah, well, you win some, you lose some. My partner is actually pretty cool, so I'm glad I got her."

Nikki's face turned up in disgust. "That Amber girl? She's kind of a loser, don't you think? You're much better than hanging out with someone like that." She stood up, walking towards Drake to sit in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You should be spending your time with me. People are going to start making fun of you if you spend too much time with her."

As Drake thought about her words, he realized she was right. Amber didn't want him anyway and why should he want her? She was social suicide. No one paid attention to her and those that did only did it to make fun of her. She had no real place at Belleview and if he tried to associate with her, he would only bring himself down. He was awesome and powerful and super popular, but even he couldn't raise her from the muck. She'd only bring him down. Allowing himself to give into her, he wrapped his arms around Nikki, being only too pleased when she leaned down to kiss him.

He was only vaguely aware of the doorbell and Josh shouting for him to get it, but he didn't pay attention. It wasn't until Josh ran down the stairs in a bathrobe to answer the door did he clue in to what was happening.

"Oh, hey, Amber!" Josh said enthusiastically, letting the girl come inside.

At the mention of Amber's name, Drake snapped out of his stupor, standing up quickly and throwing Nikki to the ground, but it was too late. By the look in her eyes, Drake could tell she'd seen what was happening.

"Sorry, I'm a little early," Amber said, voice a bit dull. "I can walk around the block a bit if you're still busy."

"No, no," Drake said, trying to defuse the situation the best way he could. "I'm totally free."

Nikki stood up front the ground, rubbing her hip where she'd landed when Drake had dropped her. "Um, excuse me, we were in the middle of something."

Drake shook his head. "No, Nikki, look, that was a mistake, and I'm sorry. I have to work on my project now. Amber, let's head up to my room."

Amber gave him an "if you say so" shrug, and followed him up the stairs, a death glare being trained on her from Nikki's eyes the whole time.

xxx

When they got to Drake's room, Amber sat down, pulling out a worn notebook, covered in ink and permanent marker, doodled to bits. "So after I left, I worked on some ideas. I was thinking that in order to make a good controlled experiment, we're going to have to go ahead and make a tiny greenhouse for each of the plants. If we just throw them around random windows, we'll break the control of sunlight and the like, so I think it's best if we just made boxes with an artificial growth lamp. That way we can play the music for them without it bleeding over. As far as the genres, I'm thinking Pop, Electronica, Classical, Rap, and Rock, along with a no-music control plant. Sound good?"

Drake didn't respond. He seemed to be staring intently at her, as if trying to gauge her reaction. "Don't you think we should talk about this?"

She shook her head, doodling on her page. "We are talking. We're trying to figure out our experiment. The one for the grade. I was thinking for the plant, that a flowering plant might be nice, something to really gauge growth, perhaps with bl-"

"No, I mean about what happened downstairs."

She was quiet for a moment, then closed her notebook slowly with a sigh. "No, Drake. I don't think we should talk about that, because it doesn't matter."

"Doesn't it hurt you to see me kissing another girl?" he asked, finger on his chin curiously.

Her mouth opened to speak but no words came out. Finally she regained her thought process. "I don't know what you want me to say, Drake. No? No, it didn't hurt at all. Not one bit. Yes? Yes, it absolutely rends me in two to see you throwing yourself at some other girl after confessing your feelings for me last night." She sighed again, standing up, and began pacing. "I expected this. I told you last night why I wasn't going to let your little change of heart affect my decisions regarding you. You are fickle. I can't name a single girl who's held your attention for longer than a week. How arrogant would it be for me to think I'd be the one to change that?"

"But you are the one to change that," he said, standing up to pace with her. "I'm crazy about you."

"Yes, that's why you now intimately know what Nikki's tonsils taste like."

"Honestly, I don't think she has tonsils. I think she probably had them tak- I mean, that was a mistake! She... she talked me into it. I didn't want to."

Amber laughed bitterly. "Drake, please. Stop this. You're embarrassing yourself. Chasing after the most unpopular girl in school? Just... stop. Can we please focus on our assignment and stop Days of Our Lives-ing up here? Please, let's just be friends, okay? Friends who can talk about music, and bands and stop focusing on this whole 'this too shall pass' romance malarky."

Drake frowned, furrowing his eyebrows. "Fine. Let's focus on the assignment. Let's just be friends." She gave him a smile, opening her notebook back up and began to chatter on animatedly about various blooming plants that would work in the experiment, but Drake barely registered her words. It was going to take a lot longer to win her over than he thought, but he would do it. If it took til graduation or beyond, he would prove to Amber that she wasn't just the flavor of the week to him.

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There we go, my first foray back into writing this fic. I hope that it was to everyone's liking and I hope that I didn't let anyone down who's been waiting for this chapter for a long long time. I will do my best to NOT let this just disappear into the dust again, so... thank you again for all the support. I hope I continue to make people happy.


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